A new nonpartisan effort to help educate Granville residents on how to get involved in local politics has posed the question: Do you want to run for office?
It’s not an unreasonable question in Granville, where seven local seats are up for grabs in the 2025 November general election.
Granville Chamber Alliance and League of Women Voters of Licking County will host Granville’s first Election Academy to encourage people to run for office and provide them with information about what that involves.
It will take place on June 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the Bryn Du Mansion at 537 Jones Road in Granville.
“People might be interested in running for office, but if they haven’t run for office before they may have no idea what it involves, or they may have an unrealistic idea of what it involves,” said Mary Tuominen, president of the League of Women Voters of Licking County.
Open seats include three seats on the Granville Village Council, two Granville Township Trustee seats and two seats on the Granville Board of Education.
“We think it’s vitally important to get quality, dedicated, informed and committed individuals in elected leadership roles,” said Steve Matheny, director of the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Tuominen emphasized that the event is nonpartisan and open to anyone. She explained that people who have declared their candidacy, who are interested in being a candidate or who want to learn more about the process are welcome. Participants are asked to register prior to the event.
“We see it as a way to provide information to citizens and to facilitate people running for office. We want candidates from a large spectrum. It’s open to anybody from any political persuasion who is interested,” Tuominen said.
For the first portion of the evening, a representative from the Licking County Board of Elections will be present to share information regarding registration, taking out a petition and campaign finance law. The second portion will focus on the practical application of being a candidate.
Individuals who have previously served, or currently serve, in the open seats will be invited to share their own experiences in running for office, including Aaron Olbur, a current Granville Village council member whose term concludes in December 2025, Kevin Bennett, former Granville Township Trustee and Russ Ginise, former school board member.
There will also be speakers who served as treasurers and campaign managers for local campaigns.
This is Granville’s first election academy, although surrounding communities have held similar events. The Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce developed an election academy and when Matheny heard about it, he thought it would be beneficial for the Granville community.
“By providing information, we feel like we will facilitate candidates coming forward. And people who are interested in being candidates, learning more and then being able to follow through on that in an informed way,” Tuominen said.
Ella Diehl writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.